NASA joins the ever-growing list of government agencies that just can’t resist the excessive use of police force. From the AP story:
Davis claims Armstrong gave the items to her husband, though the affidavit says the first man on the moon has previously told investigators he never gave or sold lunar material to anyone.
In follow-up phone conversations with a NASA agent, Davis acknowledged the rock was not sellable on the open market and fretted about an agent knocking on her door and taking the material, which she was willing to sell for “big money underground.”
“She must know that this is a questionable transaction because she used the term ‘black market,'” Agent Conley states in the search warrant.
Curiously, though, Davis agreed to sell the sample to NASA for a stellar $1.7 million. She said she wanted to leave her three children an inheritance and take care of her sick son.
NASA investigators then arranged the sting, where Conley met with Davis and her current husband at the Denny’s at Lake Elsinore in Riverside County.
Soon after settling into a booth, Davis said, she pulled out the moon sample and about half a dozen sheriff’s deputies and NASA investigators rushed into the eatery.
When officers in flack vests took a hold of her, the 4-foot-11 woman said she was so scared she lost control of her bladder and was taken outside to a parking lot, where she was questioned and detained for about two hours.
Okay, clearly this lady suspected she was probably sitting on hot Apollo memorabilia. But was it necessary to take her down with a half-dozen Deputy Dawgs in flak jackets? This was an old lady at Denny’s, not some meth dealer in the ‘hood. Were they afraid she was gonna go all ninja, whip out her dentures and kill somebody?
But hey, if the Dept. of Education can use SWAT to serve warrants for unpaid student loans, I guess that’s just the world we live in.
The Chiles Files 